MANILA (UPDATE) – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has appointed Ilocos Region police office director Franklin Jesus Bucayu as the new director of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

Bucayo takes the place of retired Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan Jr., who resigned last December following several controversies in the bureau earlier last year. Pangilinan went on indefinite leave to give way to an investigation into the abduction of convicted killer and New Bilibid Prison inmate Rolito Go.

Another officer-in-charge, Manuel Co, was relieved subsequently due to a probe on a grenade blast that happened inside the NBP in November.

In a statement, de Lima said Bucayo is very well qualified for the post considering his 35 years in police and military services and track record in security institutions and extensive experience spanning several disciplines.

“The appointment of a former chief of the PNP’s Human Rights Affair Office (HRAO) is a paradigm shift in the management of our prisons. It is time to move forward with the major reforms in the premiere correctional institute of the country, the Bureau of Corrections,” she said.

Bucayo assumes the post temporarily designated to National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Rafael Marcos Ragos. De Lima thanked the latter for “his stewardship during a most challenging period to transform the way we handle our inmates for restorative justice to take root.”

The BuCor is under administrative supervision of the Department of Justice.